Relatively few PACs have sought to exercise direct influence on political
campaigns by sending consultants into the field to help assemble campaign
organizations. Throughout its nearly twenty-year history, the Free Congress PAC
( FCP), originally known as the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress,
has specialized in providing "in-kind" contributions to the campaigns of
conservative candidates. The FCP has not been active in funding incumbents
or in trying to influence legislation. Instead, it has focused on competitive
conservative challengers. In the case of the FCP, the focus is on the soon-to-be-
elected.

History

The FCP began as the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress (CSFC)
in 1973. It was and continues to be the brainchild of one man--political
entrepreneur, conservative activist, and former Hill staffer Paul Weyrich. In the
early 1970s, Weyrich, an employee of a Republican senator at the time, believed
that the left had simply out-organized the right. Liberal scholars, journalists,
union officials, and politicians appeared to have formed a cohesive bloc in
opposition to President Nixon's efforts to roll back certain domestic programs. He
created the CSFC to be a countervailing force to liberal groups that had formed in
defense of government programs and regulations instituted in the 1960s.

As a parallel project, Weyrich immediately set about to help elect a more
conservative Congress. The CSFC's most immediate goal was to provide direct
support to conservative candidates. The issues most central to its mission were

Print this page

While we understand printed pages are helpful to our users, this limitation is necessary
to help protect our publishers' copyrighted material and prevent its unlawful distribution.
We are sorry for any inconvenience.